In a recent unexpected move on Thursday morning, Mic Network Inc. laid off its entire editorial staff, then sold what was left of the company to Bustle Digital Group.
The only remaining editorial employee is Mic co-founder Jake Horowitz.
Employees across all levels were understandably shocked and hit hard by the news, but recent hire Nick Porterfield was arguably hit the hardest.
Porterfield relocated to New York City last week for the position and began his new job on Monday. By Thursday, he was laid off.
A large majority of the Mic staff has been left searching for new jobs, with most of them using Twitter as a means to connect with other journalists, who have openly offered them positions at publications like The Guardian US and Nylon and advice about freelancing and job-hunting.
Though Mic was acquired by a separate media company, this is not the end for the millennial news platform, as Bustle Digital Group seems to have plans to relaunch it.
“When we relaunch Mic, the team will get a fresh chance to do their best work. And they will do so with the full support of the technology, marketing, finance, and operations teams that we already have in place at Bustle Digital Group,” stated an email from Bustle Digital Group CEO and founder Bryan Goldberg to staff.
“This is the correct model for 2019 and beyond. It takes tremendous cost burden off of each individual media property, and opens up much needed budget for editorial talent.”
While layoffs were happening, Mic Publisher Cory Haik notified staff of her resignation from the company via email.
“Journalism is a tough business, and ours, the business of digital journalism, even more difficult. But that is not the legacy of your work at Mic,” Haik wrote.
Photo by Oliver Niblett on Unsplash
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